The overall goal of the Morehouse School of Medicine's (MSM) MBRS SCORE program is to enhance the research capability of MSM faculty by supporting biomedical research that unravels the disease processes that disproportionately affect minorities and under-served populations. The design of the program will foster and facilitate the career goal of our current/regular research faculty and will aid our young faculty in initiating their independent research programs. This renewal application includes twenty-two diverse biomedical research and pilot projects that will strengthen the institution's research capabilities and provide for faculty the needed support to address the disproportionate degree of disease and adverse conditions that affect the nation's minority population. The MBRS Score will also provide the resource and technical assistance needed to maintain an environment for developing and cultivating minority students to become outstanding scientists. The specific goals are to: Goal (1) establish a conducive research environment for MSM research faculty. The objectives of this goal are to increase the number of technical workshops, interdisciplinary seminar speakers and external collaborations by 25%, and to assist institutional official with streamlining research-related processes and procedures; Goal (2) increase the number of manuscripts published in peer reviewed journals and grants approved for extramural funding. The objectives of this goal are to increase the number of manuscripts submitted to an average of 3/MBRS project/year, to submit one extramural grant/MBRS project by the 3rd year of the budget period and to implement an evaluation plan which will provide periodic feedback and monitor the progress and obstacles of investigators' research; Goal (3) coordinate the faculty research activities of the SCORE with the student training and faculty development activities of the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE). The objectives of this goal are to increase the number of minority students exposed to an trained in MSM research program and to increased the number of minority investigators submitting competitive research application. We expect this Program to result in an average of 2 manuscripts published per project per year and a 10-20% increase in extramurally funded grants which is reflective of the expected outcomes of the individual subprojects. Overall the MBRS SCORE is expected to significantly increase the number of minority faculty with meritorious research programs.